


Touch

by OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, Royai - Freeform, Slightly angsty fluff, Touch, everyone needs six hugs a day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 02:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8428501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor/pseuds/OnceAndAlwaysEnglishMajor
Summary: There were some things Riza didn't know were missing from her life until Roy Mustang entered it.





	

            There were some things Riza Hawkeye didn’t know were missing from her life until Roy Mustang entered it. How could something as simple as a touch be so consuming?

 

_Roy Mustang, her father’s new apprentice, was just enough older than Riza to make him intriguing. His cheerful smile and carefree manners were foreign to her. The other alchemists who had apprenticed under her father completely ignored her. But not Roy. He treated her like her opinion mattered.  He ruffled her hair or touched her shoulder when he walked past. Casual  touches he didn’t even seem to notice, but they meant the world to Riza. Perhaps, someone in this world actually cared about her. He hugged her once, the day he left, when her father wasn’t looking._

 

“Lieutenant!” Mustang’s overly enthusiastic tone suggested that he’d already had too much to drink. Riza pinched the bridge of her nose.

            “I need you to pick me up,” Mustang continued, “I don’t trust any of those other chumps to drive my car.” Riza heard Havoc protesting loudly in the background. “You’ve had more to drink than I have!” Mustang scolded. “So, what do you say, Hawkeye? Come pick me up? You know the place.” He hung up the phone. Riza sighed.  Either Roy was legitimately drunk, or he had some other scheme in the works that hinged on everyone assuming he was incapacitated. Either way, she didn’t really have a choice. Roy would be at his favorite bar, which was conveniently located within walking distance of her apartment, but not Mustang’s. Riza fully believed that the decision was deliberate. She sighed again. The colonel couldn’t have chosen a worse night for these shenanigans. She just wanted to curl up in her armchair with a book and pretend the world didn’t exist. Instead, she was going to leave her cozy apartment to babysit her probably shit-faced drunk superior.

            The bar looked deceptively cheerful as Riza approached. The colonel was visible through the window, drinking with Havoc, Falman, and Breda. Riza let out a small growl. Those three did nothing to keep Mustang in line. Though her inclination was to storm into the bar and drag mustang out by his collar. Instead, she walked in calmly and stopped in front of the table. Roy turned to face her with a cheeky grin.

            “Aw, Lieutenant, you came! So long boys, my ride’s here!” Mustang lurched up from the table, swaying unsteadily on his feet. Riza carefully stayed just far enough away that Roy couldn’t lean on her. She didn’t think she could handle physical contact from him tonight. Not… like this. The colonel scrambled into the passenger seat of his car, while Riza started the engine. Mustang’s goofy drunk grin slipped off his face as soon as they started driving. So he is up to something, Riza thought.

            “What are we up to tonight, Colonel?” Riza asked. Mustang frowned at her.

            “Lieutenant, what’s wrong?” He reached out to touch her shoulder.

            “No!” Riza snapped, flinching away from him. Mustang froze, his face dropping as if she’d slapped him. Hawkeye tried not to feel guilty.

            “Riza,” Mustang said softly. Riza’s eyes flicked to Roy, then back to the road.

            “Not tonight,” Riza answered him slowly. Mustang’s face still held traces of concern, but he didn’t push.

            “Take us to Madame Christmas’,” he instructed. Hawkeye nodded in assent. Roy didn’t say anything for the rest of the drive, but Riza could feel his eyes studying her. She parked the customary block and a half away. Roy’s drunk act was back in place as soon as the car stopped. He didn’t try to lean on Riza this time as they made their way to the back alley entrance to Madame Christmas’ establishment. Riza tapped out the familiar rhythm on the weathered door. One of Roy’s ‘sisters’ opened the door.

            “Roy-boy! And Miss Riza! Come in!” she said animatedly. Then she sniffed Roy and noted the stupid-drunk expression he had pasted on his face. “Oh, it’s one of those evenings. I’ll send Madame back.” She left them in a comfortable sitting room. Roy’s aunt and adoptive mothers strode into the room minutes later. Riza was struck once again by the woman’s forceful presence.

            “Well, what is it?” Chris Mustang demanded. “Alice said you were here, reeking of trouble. What have you done now, Roy-boy?” Roy had the grace to look embarrassed.

            “I needed to alert you of a… situation, and I needed to be sure no one would be inclined to investigate my movements.” He handed his aunt a sealed envelope.

            “And you had to drag Miss Hawkeye into this too?” Roy hung his head.

            “Actually, I was wondering if the lieutenant and I could use a room for a private discussion?” Roy asked. Riza’s eyes widened in surprise. Madame Christmas looked from one to the other before saying,

            “You can use this room. Il’’ make sure you aren’t disturbed.” She swept grandly out of the room, leaving Roy and Riza alone.

            “Lieutenant, what’s going on?” Roy asked, eyes pleading with her.

            “I don’t know what you mean, sir,” Hawkeye answered stiffly.

            “You’ve never been afraid of me touching you, even when you should be,” he responded sadly. Riza knew he was thinking of the burn scars that decorated her back.

 

            _Ishval. Constant grit on her skin. The knowledge that her desire to protect had been twisted into something so, so_ **wrong** _. And Roy. Gone was the bright eyed boy who had studied under her father, replaced by a man with tortured, desperate eyes. A man who found her in secret, stolen moments. The anti-fraternization laws would have them both court-martialed, if not worse.  “Just hold me,” Roy would whisper. And Riza would, as if her arms could hold the world that was falling apart around them together, as if she could mend their shattered lives. Sometimes Roy would hold her, and Riza knew they would make it through another day of this hell. As long as they held each other, they would survive._

“I’m not afraid of you, sir. Never that. But tonight… a touch…” Riza trailed off, not sure what to say. Roy studied her eyes, trying to read what she couldn’t say. He sat down on the loveseat and patted the spot next to him, eyes still questioning. Riza gingerly settled herself next to him, still stiffly avoiding any contact.

            “Please… Riza.” Her eyes jumped to his face at the use of her name. “Please tell me.”

            “I can’t…can’t let myself… want to be touched… held.” Her voice broke as she choked out the words.

            “Riza,” Roy breathed, reaching out as if to stroke her cheek, then hesitating. “Dear Riza, you’ve been through so much. And you’re still so scared to let yourself be cared for. I promise you this, Riza Hawkeye. I care for you more deeply than I have words to express, and that is never going to change. Never. Now, please, please, let me care for you.” His eyes begged her to believe him. Finally, Riza gave one short nod. Roy drew her to his chest, wrapping her in his arms. Riza sighed in relief. Roy planted a gentle kiss on the top of her head, and Riza snuggled deeper into his chest, pulling her feet up onto the loveseat. Madame Christmas peeked into the room and smiled softly. Those poor kids. Maybe one night of peace would do them good. And maybe one day, it would be a life, not just a night.


End file.
